In her inaugural address at the seminar on opportunities in the Food Processing Sector, Smt Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Honb’ble Union Minister for Food Processing Industries, said the food processing industry was going to explode in the next few years. The seminar was organized by CII in partnership with the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India as part of the ongoing Make in India week in Mumbai. The Minister released the report on ‘Make in India – Review of Food processing opportunities in India’ at the Seminar.
She pointed out that India has the largest raw materials base, food production levels have quadrupled and we are a food secure country and have the potential to become the food factory for the world. Speaking on the issue of FDI she proposed allowing FDI in multi-brand retail of food grown and processed in India to sell to India and the world. Such FDI will by no means shut down the smaller mom and pop shops. In addition, the wastage of food worth Rs 92,000 crore will be reduced. She believes that this will also help to modernize the Indian farmer with newer and efficient farming technologies. She highlighted recent efforts by the government to encourage greater innovations and enable the ease of doing business through cheaper credit, identifying priority sector lending status for foods grown in India and others.
She said India can take its nascent levels of mere 10% in food processing to the next level of 30%. She also encouraged investors and the Industry to look abroad at the large expat population and the huge opportunities that lie with traditional foods both abroad as well as here. According to her, the 42 proposed food parks will significantly impact food processing levels.
The food processing sector in India contributes as much as 11 per cent and 9 per cent of GDP in Agriculture and Manufacturing sector respectively. It is one of the largest industries in India, ranked fifth in terms of production, consumption, export and expected growth. Also, it is considered having huge potential for elevating agricultural economy, raising farmer’s income, generating employment and enhancing forex earnings.
She invited the Industry to come forward and invest with innovative ideas and game changing thoughts to support the larger vision of providing cheap, affordable, healthy and nourishing food to Indians and the world.
Mr Avinash K Srivastava, Secretary, Ministry of Food Processing Industries spoke of the National Agricultural Markets initiative of the government which seeks to modernize the ‘mandis’ across various states. Referring to another Government measure, he spoke of the procurement of Pulses by the government with the objective to create adequate buffer stocks as well as offer assurance to farFmers of the purchase of their produce.
Mr Piruz Khambata, Chairman, CII National Committee on Food Processing & Chairman & Managing Director, Rasna Private Limited applauded the Make in India Campaign and said it has become one of the biggest brands that is successfully showcasing government and private sector partnerships and collaborations. He mentioned that there are great opportunities in online food retailing. He emphasized vast untapped scope in organic foods and the need for terminal markets in food processing which will be key growth drivers of agricultural GDP.
Mr Rana Kapoor, MD & CEO, Yes Bank Ltd spoke of the need to invest in agricultural infrastructure where the ‘local Mandis’ can be modernized. He suggested developing brand India through foods that have specific geographic appellations which provide for traceability and trust factors that help identify foods belonging to particular countries, citing the recent popularity of the Kiwi fruit from New Zealand.
According to him, India has untapped opportunities in horticulture and floriculture and leaves a lot to be done to effectively leverage its geographical and seasonal advantages.
Mumbai
16th February, 2016